The NGO Shipbreaking Platform issued its research report ‘Recycling Outlook: Decommissioning of North Sea Floating Oil & Gas Units’ highlighting an increase in the number of the offshore units sold for scrap.

As the EU Ship Recycling Regulation is to take effect in 2020, stakeholders should stand up to their responsibilities and IHM Service suppliers should create effective procedures to promote compliance, argues Consulting Engineer Stefanos Magoulas.

Two workers were killed and several others were injured in a Chittagong shipbreaking yard, in Bangladesh, after falling from height while attempting to climb an old ship. The incident was reported at Ziri Subedar ship-breaking yard in Sitakunda, on Saturday evening.

After a worker lost his life while cutting the ship ‘Ever Union’ at a shipbreaking yard in Bangladesh, on July 23, Evergreen released a press statement expressing sympathy for this loss of life and for any other resulting from an industrial accident. It also disclaimed any responsibility, as the ship had been already in the hands of a buyer who had provided assurances that the breakers yard concerned is a certified Green-Ship Recycling shipyard.

According to VesselsValue, in the first six months of 2019, 201 cargo vessels were sold for demolition, 75% were scrapped in Bangladesh or India, with the former having the majority share. In comparison to 2018’s first six months, scrapping decreased by 18%.

On July 23, a cutter man died while working at Kabir Steel’s Khawja shipbreaking yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh. According to local sources, Shahidul was cutting the container ship Ever Union, when he fell from a great height. The Ever Union was sold for scrapping for more than $10 million. Before reaching the shore, the ship was renamed Vera and changed registry to the Paris MoU black-listed flag of Palau.

Bangladesh is the top dumping location for discarded ships globally, with the country scrapping the highest number of ships in the first half of the 2019, according to a report from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The report highlights that from the total 374 ships that were broken in the first half of 2019, 156 were broken in Bangladesh.

North P&I Club describes the new European Union regulations that mandate vessels flying the flag of an EU state can only be scrapped in approved ship-recycling facilities. Outside the EU, some countries have already signed the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, which apply 24 months after it is fully ratified.